Fox News Host Blasts Billionaires Not Paying Donald Trump's Bills

Fox News host Mark Levin has called out billionaires for not paying Donald Trump's legal bills after the former president's legal team said paying his $400 million New York civil fraud penalty would be "a practical impossibility."

Trump is seeking a bond of $464 million to cover his fines and a stay in the execution of the monetary portion of the civil trial ruling after Judge Arthur Engoron ruled in February that Trump must pay $355 million for committing fraud. The New York court held that Trump and top executives at The Trump Organization inflated the value of his assets to obtain more favorable terms from lenders and insurers. With interest, the full payment will be roughly $454 million. Trump's lawyers are appealing the verdict.

On Monday, the Republican suffered a setback after Trump's legal team admitted in a court filing that it is a "practical impossibility" for him to make the $464 million payment and requested a stay pending the outcome of an appeal process. His team had contacted 33 companies to try to secure funding.

Writing on X, formerly Twitter, Levin suggested Republican billionaires lend Trump funds to appeal "the outrageous case."

"Why are there no Republican multi-billionaires offering to lend President Trump the funds to file his appeal in the outrageous case in NY state?" he questioned. "Are none of them liquid enough to help or join with others to help? This is an outrage."

Newsweek contacted a Trump representative by email to comment on this story.

A GoFundMe page set up to pay for the fine has raised just over $1.3 million in about a month, barely scraping the surface of the amount owed.

Trump's financial difficulties have also been impacted by a January order to pay $83.3 million in damages to journalist E. Jean Carroll for statements made in 2019. He said she was lying about allegations that he sexually assaulted her inside a Manhattan department store dressing room in the 1990s. That amount includes $7.3 million in compensatory damages, $11 million for reputational repair and $65 million in punitive damages.

This month, Trump posted a bond of nearly $92 million in the defamation case after Judge Lewis Kaplan denied the presumptive GOP presidential nominee's request to delay the enforcement of penalties.

Christopher Phelps, a professor of modern American history at the University of Nottingham in the U.K., told Newsweek: "If you post bond for Donald Trump, you would only do so if you had complete confidence that he would pay you back. It speaks volumes that Trump tried 30 lenders and was declined by every single one.

"Perhaps a billionaire could imagine throwing away half a billion dollars, but even they tend to want to be paid back. Trump could sell buildings, but commercial real estate is in a slump, so it's not a good time for him to do that.

"No telling where he gets the money in the end, but it's worth thinking about how Trump's increasing financial difficulties produced by his legal troubles may make him susceptible to foreign backers and influences."

Heath Brown, an associate professor of public policy at the City University of New York, told Newsweek that he doubted a billionaire would pay for Trump's bills.

"I can't think of any precedent for this, so I think the chances of this happening are very low," Brown said.

Update 3/19/24, 10:24 a.m. ET: This article was updated with comment from Heath Brown.